West University Examiner - News
Helping those who served
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| Grantham |
By RUSTY GRAHAM
A young mother, a military veteran, is going through a divorce and wants to return to school to expand her career opportunities. She’s struggling financially, though, in part because she’s not receiving child support payments.
A military reservist – young, single – returns from an overseas deployment and is “different,” his parents say. The reservist is having trouble dealing with his parents, too.
A widow whose late husband served in the armed forces wonders what benefits she may be entitled to.
Buddy Grantham and the city of Houston’s Office of Veterans Affairs are ready to help.
How? By guiding veterans, their families and their survivors through the maze of bureaucratic red tape that precedes assistance. Grantham calls it “information portalness” – getting people in need connected with the people who can help them.
“Different people need help at different points in their lives,” says Grantham. “Our driving question is ‘how do you set things up so that it’s easier for veterans?’”
The Office of Veterans Affairs has helped about 700 military veterans and their families in its first year.
The office’s 26-point mission statement can be boiled down a single item: doing whatever’s necessary to help and serve veterans and their families.
Houston Mayor Bill White established the Office of Veterans Affairs late last October as part of the city’s Returning Veteran Initiative. White chose native Houstonian and retired Army officer Grantham to head up the program.
"Our goals are simple,” said White. “We want to make Houston a model for the rest of the country in how we treat the men and women who have sacrificed so much for us. To do that, we want to work together as a community and cut the red tape and lack of knowledge that creates huge gaps between available services and those who need the help.”
If the dizzying array of veteran service agencies can be thought of as spokes in a wheel, then Houston’s Office of Veterans Affairs would be the wheel’s hub. The office not only brings clients and agencies together, but often serves as the conduit through which agencies speak to one another. The office’s real service is hooking people up with the right agency.
“There are a lot of good agencies and good people out there working to serve veterans,” said Frank Michel, director of communications for Mayor White. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but we need to work in a coordinated way to make it easier for veterans to navigate the bureaucracies.”
Getting help is simply a matter of contacting the office – by phone, in person or through the Internet. Once help is requested, the veteran is put in contact with the people or agency that can best assist, said Grantham.
“Our citizens are looking for someone to talk to them and help them find out what they need to know; we do that,” said Grantham. “We put them in touch with the individual or organization most capable of assisting them. There are also some advocacy cases — those go very well.”
Besides his Army experience, Grantham is no stranger to helping people by cutting red tape. Grantham was serving as the chief operating officer of the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County and as chairman of the Joint Hurricane Community Settlement Task Force, applying lessons learned from running shelter operations following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when tapped by White to run the new office.
"Buddy Grantham gets things done,” said White. “He has personally pulled veterans from roadsides and from under bridges to provide to them the care they deserve. That's why he was chosen to lead the effort for us.”
White began several years ago to hear about problems returning veterans were having receiving services and entitlements, and called a summit with Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, out of which came the committees upon which Grantham served. “The mayor (then) decided that ‘this is important and I need someone to stay on top of this,’” Grantham said.
So how do Grantham and his staff of three serve a city with an estimated 200,000 veterans? It’s the question that Grantham has been waiting on – how big is your staff?
“Very big. I plug into the entire city structure,” said Grantham, “from the IT department, legislative affairs, public works, communications, Mayor's Citizen Assistance Office, council members and their staffs, to the mayor and his chief's of staff.
“And that’s just at the city,” he said. “ I get to link into and coordinate staff efforts with Harris County, The VA Medical Hospital and Regional Benefits Office, United Way 2-1-1, veteran groups and numerous organizations. We act as a team. I have a small staff of three in my office, but there is a mighty staff of hundreds that work together to assist our veterans. I get to be part of that staff.”
Grantham said his biggest ally is Harris County’s Veterans Service Office, led by Vincent Morrison. Veterans Service Officers (VSOs) are licensed to represent veterans in any number of matters
Veterans need not reside in the city of Houston – Grantham said the office will help any veteran. Indeed, West University Place City Manager Michael Ross said that if asked to assist someone with a veteran’s issue, “(Grantham’s) office would be the first place I’d call.”
“We advertise through press releases, the Houston Military Affairs Committee, the city of Houston Web site, speaking engagements, public service announcements, news articles, veteran organizations, events and welcome home ceremonies for our returning troops, the VA Hospital, and many others.We also get referrals from numerous organizations.”
The Office of Veterans Affairs is located on the public level at Houston City Hall Annex, 900 Bagby St. in downtown Houston. The phone number is 832-393-0992. The website is www.houstontx.gov/vetaffairs.
A military reservist – young, single – returns from an overseas deployment and is “different,” his parents say. The reservist is having trouble dealing with his parents, too.
A widow whose late husband served in the armed forces wonders what benefits she may be entitled to.
Buddy Grantham and the city of Houston’s Office of Veterans Affairs are ready to help.
How? By guiding veterans, their families and their survivors through the maze of bureaucratic red tape that precedes assistance. Grantham calls it “information portalness” – getting people in need connected with the people who can help them.
“Different people need help at different points in their lives,” says Grantham. “Our driving question is ‘how do you set things up so that it’s easier for veterans?’”
The Office of Veterans Affairs has helped about 700 military veterans and their families in its first year.
The office’s 26-point mission statement can be boiled down a single item: doing whatever’s necessary to help and serve veterans and their families.
Houston Mayor Bill White established the Office of Veterans Affairs late last October as part of the city’s Returning Veteran Initiative. White chose native Houstonian and retired Army officer Grantham to head up the program.
"Our goals are simple,” said White. “We want to make Houston a model for the rest of the country in how we treat the men and women who have sacrificed so much for us. To do that, we want to work together as a community and cut the red tape and lack of knowledge that creates huge gaps between available services and those who need the help.”
If the dizzying array of veteran service agencies can be thought of as spokes in a wheel, then Houston’s Office of Veterans Affairs would be the wheel’s hub. The office not only brings clients and agencies together, but often serves as the conduit through which agencies speak to one another. The office’s real service is hooking people up with the right agency.
“There are a lot of good agencies and good people out there working to serve veterans,” said Frank Michel, director of communications for Mayor White. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but we need to work in a coordinated way to make it easier for veterans to navigate the bureaucracies.”
Getting help is simply a matter of contacting the office – by phone, in person or through the Internet. Once help is requested, the veteran is put in contact with the people or agency that can best assist, said Grantham.
“Our citizens are looking for someone to talk to them and help them find out what they need to know; we do that,” said Grantham. “We put them in touch with the individual or organization most capable of assisting them. There are also some advocacy cases — those go very well.”
Besides his Army experience, Grantham is no stranger to helping people by cutting red tape. Grantham was serving as the chief operating officer of the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County and as chairman of the Joint Hurricane Community Settlement Task Force, applying lessons learned from running shelter operations following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when tapped by White to run the new office.
"Buddy Grantham gets things done,” said White. “He has personally pulled veterans from roadsides and from under bridges to provide to them the care they deserve. That's why he was chosen to lead the effort for us.”
White began several years ago to hear about problems returning veterans were having receiving services and entitlements, and called a summit with Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, out of which came the committees upon which Grantham served. “The mayor (then) decided that ‘this is important and I need someone to stay on top of this,’” Grantham said.
So how do Grantham and his staff of three serve a city with an estimated 200,000 veterans? It’s the question that Grantham has been waiting on – how big is your staff?
“Very big. I plug into the entire city structure,” said Grantham, “from the IT department, legislative affairs, public works, communications, Mayor's Citizen Assistance Office, council members and their staffs, to the mayor and his chief's of staff.
“And that’s just at the city,” he said. “ I get to link into and coordinate staff efforts with Harris County, The VA Medical Hospital and Regional Benefits Office, United Way 2-1-1, veteran groups and numerous organizations. We act as a team. I have a small staff of three in my office, but there is a mighty staff of hundreds that work together to assist our veterans. I get to be part of that staff.”
Grantham said his biggest ally is Harris County’s Veterans Service Office, led by Vincent Morrison. Veterans Service Officers (VSOs) are licensed to represent veterans in any number of matters
Veterans need not reside in the city of Houston – Grantham said the office will help any veteran. Indeed, West University Place City Manager Michael Ross said that if asked to assist someone with a veteran’s issue, “(Grantham’s) office would be the first place I’d call.”
“We advertise through press releases, the Houston Military Affairs Committee, the city of Houston Web site, speaking engagements, public service announcements, news articles, veteran organizations, events and welcome home ceremonies for our returning troops, the VA Hospital, and many others.We also get referrals from numerous organizations.”
The Office of Veterans Affairs is located on the public level at Houston City Hall Annex, 900 Bagby St. in downtown Houston. The phone number is 832-393-0992. The website is www.houstontx.gov/vetaffairs.
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